To Catch A Dream
by Lysaandi
Summary: Cloud still loves Aerith, but loves Tifa too. He dreams of Aerith one morning, and then sees her. Was it her ghost? When Tifa sees her too, and takes Vincent and Yuffie to find her, they find someone they did not expect to see. How are they back? & Why?
1. If Only

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or characters... sigh. Only the plot of this story is mine. If only to be the owner of Final Fantasy...! Enjoy!  
  
**To Catch A Dream**

Chapter 1:

If Only...  
  
    
  
  "Aerith," he whispered, gazing at her through the mist of morning that permeated the church.   
  
     She turned, flowers in hand, and upon seeing him, smiled. To him, the smile upon her sweet face lit up the room. The small shafts of sunlight streaming through the windows held no meaning to him as he saw her standing there.  
  
     "Cloud!" She dropped her flowers and began to run towards him, her boots clattering upon the stone floor.  
  
     He held out his arms to greet her as she neared. She held out hers, and just as they were about to touch--  
  
     She disappeared. Aerith Gainsborough stood no longer in the church. Something dropped onto the floor, the tiny thud sounding like a gunshot in the silence. Cloud looked down.  
  
     A small, green Materia, the one that belonged to Aerith, lay there before him. He picked it up, looking into its shining depths. Aerith's face emerged inside it, only to be replaced by Sephiroth's. His face wore an evil grin, and, shuddering, Cloud threw it away from him.  
  
     He looked to see where it landed, having a change of heart, but didn't see, or hear, it come down at all. He heard footsteps behind him, their noise echoing off the walls around him. Someone tapped him on his left shoulder, and he turned, hoping it was Aerith.   
  
     It was Tifa.  
  
     "What, have you forgotten about me?" She demanded, hands on her hips.  
  
     "I-- " Cloud started.  
  
     "I'm still here, you know!" And then Tifa kissed him full on the lips. SHE didn't disappear.   
  
     He then saw Aerith again, and broke away, staring at the two of them, confused. They were suddenly side-by-side, watching him as he stood there. Barret approached and stood beside him.  
  
     "What's the matter, Cloud? Can't you make up you !&$% mind for once?" Barret yelled.  
  
     The scent of flowers filled the air, and Cloud felt himself falling. Green light surrounded him as he fell into nothingness.  
  
     "Tifa! Aerith!" Cloud cried as he saw their faces above him. And awoke.   
  
     "Aerith," he whispered, gathering his blankets about him. "Why did you have to die?"  
  
     He looked around the crowded room they were staying in. Red XIII lay curled up in a pile of pillows that was in the corner, snoring loudly. Yuffie lay sprawled across her blankets, which, judging by the tattered state of them and the fact that her 4-point Shuriken was buried into the floor through the blankets, they must have met her in a dream, and lost. Terribly. Tifa lay on the floor on her side near Barret, who HAD started out the night on the other side of the room near Vincent and Red, leaving his blankets behind. Vincent had no blanket, using only his cape, and was propped up by the wall.   
  
     Carefully, so he wouldn't wake anyone, Cloud rose and went out of the room. The inn was quiet, and no one was awake, which was to be expected of the early morning. Cloud left the inn, walking down the quiet streets of Midgar, paying no heed to where he was headed.   
  
     His steps unwittingly led him to the church. The door was closed, and he hesitated before opening it. No one had been in the place recently, and it showed as he walked across the stone floor; his shoes left prints in the thick layer of dust.   
  
     Nothing there had changed. It was the same as it was when Cloud had left it the last time. That is, until a flash of color and movement caught his eye. There, in the middle of the floor, sat a single flower: a closed rose. Cloud approached it stunned; it hadn't been there a moment before.  
  
     The petals slowly opened before his amazed eyes. Every one was perfectly formed. Cloud caught his breath as it revealed what rested inside.  
  
     A single green Materia.   
  
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Well, how about it? Bit of a cliffhanger, I know. You'll just have to live until I get the next chapter up, which I promise to do soon. I know it was a bit short, but I didn't want too much for the first chapter. I just wanted to see how it was recieved. I'll try to make the next ones longer. Criticism is welcome; I like to hear how I can improve. No flames, but if you must, tone it down a bit. Thanks for reading!

Lysaandi 


	2. Doubts

Disclaimer: I do not own, and never will own, Final Fantasy 7 or characters.   
  
I hope you like this chapter. Reviews and emails might help me type faster if I know this is being appreciated cough! _ write! _ cough!  
  
Lysaandi  
  
Oh, by the way:  
  
'Denotes thoughts'  
!!! Followed by Italics denotes flashbacks. (Not in this chapter, but just to let you know)  
  
Got it? I hope so!  
  
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**To Catch A Dream**

Chapter 2:

Doubts

  
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Cloud stood there, stunned, for several minutes before moving. He walked slowly up to the flower and Materia, still not quite certain it was his imagination, or if he was dreaming again. He picked it up, and both were solid in his fingers. 

_"I love you"_, came a whisper from the Materia. Cloud almost dropped it in surprise. It dissolved before his eyes, leaving only the flower behind. 

He stood there a moment longer, then turned on his heel and left the church. The town of Midgar was stirring, people already moving to set up stalls or shops. A girl rushed by him, carrying a basket of flowers to sell near the busiest shops. 

She wore pink. 'Pink?' he thought. She turned, and Aerith winked at him with a saucy smile before disappearing.

'What the--?' Cloud shook his head. 'This lack of sleep must really be getting to me. Am I still dreaming?'

He walked back to the inn, where Yuffie was eating, or rather, attacking, her breakfast. She spotted him and waved him over to sit with her.

"Whr r oo?" she asked, her mouth full to the brim with toast. 

"What was that?" Cloud asked as he wiped crumbs off of himself. 

She swallowed. "I said, where were you? Want some?" She shoved a piece of toast under his nose.

"No." He shoved the toast away from him and wiped his face; She had buttered it liberally, and it had smeared all over him. "I went for a walk." 

"This early? Where?"

"Nowhere," he said uncomfortably as she eyed him critically.

"Oh, come on! Don't give me that! Tell me!"

"Nowhere! I just went for a walk in the streets!" Cloud almost shouted, but managed to keep his voice down to a growl. 

"Touchy, aren't we?" She said with amusement, attacking her bacon. "I know where you went." 

Cloud started. ".........."

"The church, right?"

"............"

Her smile faded when she saw his face. "You did, didn't you? Stop torturing yourself, Cloud! It's not your fault, but there's nothing we can do."

"Is there?" he asked, very, very quietly. "Look at this." He brought out the rose.

"So? It's a flower. What's so special about it?" Yuffie asked in confusion. 

"Never mind." Cloud put it back in his pocket. 

"What?" Yuffie demanded. "What's with you, Cloud? You've been acting really strange lately!"

"............"

"Hey Yuffie. Cloud," came a voice from the stairway. It was Tifa. She noticed the two staring at each other intensely. 

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked. 

"I don't know. He won't tell me!" exclaimed Yuffie indignantly. "All I asked him was where he went for a walk, and he got all quiet."

"So where did he go?" 

"Will you both stop talking as if I'm not here?" Cloud yelled. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine!" He stormed out of the inn, knocking over his chair as he went. 

"Cloud?" Tifa called after him. His response was to slam the door. 

"You'd better go after him," Yuffie said, picking up another slice of toast. "He won't talk to me."

Tifa left. Cloud was nowhere to be seen, already lost in the crowd of people. She kicked a rock that was near her shoe in anger. What was wrong with Cloud these days? 

'Yuffie's right,' she thought bitterly. 'He has been quiet lately. I'll bet he's thinking of Aerith.' Tifa felt a little guilty thinking of Aerith with bad thoughts. She liked her, certainly, but she could never get over the feeling that she had stolen Cloud from her. She was too-- perfect. Yes, perfect was the word. And yet, she was so likeable, it was almost hard to feel mad at her. 

'Damn!' Tifa thought angrily. 'Why does everything have to be so HARD! It's not like I can walk up to Cloud and say something about it. I love him, but he can be so hard to deal with when he wants to be. He needs to open up his feelings more.' 

She walked down the streets, keeping a lookout for the spiky haired man. Her steps echoed those of Cloud's earlier as she ended up in front of the church. 'How did I wind up here?' Tifa thought, a trifle annoyed, because at the moment she wanted to forget about Aerith. 

Nevertheless, she pushed open the door and walked inside, half expecting to see Cloud. He wasn't there. She saw a flower on the ground in front of her and picked it up. 'Strange. There are no other flowers around here. Why would there be just one?'

She examined it closely. It was a pale pink rose, closed, but there was a strange greenish tint to it, as if something was glowing on the inside. She went to sniff it, and stopped. It slowly began to unfold its petals. Inside was a green Materia.

_"I'm sorry,"_ came a voice, and it disappeared. Tifa dropped the flower in surprise. 

'How was that possible?' Even the voice in her mind was shaky. 'How could that have happened? Aerith is dead! How?' Her trembling fingers picked up the flower and tucked it in her pouch that she had bought recently. Tying it back around her waist, she left the church, shaken thoroughly. 

Upon leaving the church, she saw a girl drop her basket. Flowers fell everywhere. Tifa gathered them up and placed them back into the basket where they belonged. She handed the basket to the girl.

"Here," she said, and gasped. Aerith took the basket and flounced away in the direction of the inn. A crowd of people blocked Tifa's view of her, and she tried in vain to catch sight of the girl she knew was dead. When they passed, Aerith was nowhere to be seen, although there were no alleyways or anywhere else for her to go. 

"This--can't--be--happening!" Tifa moaned under her breath as she ran back to the inn, forgetting Cloud for the moment. 'This isn't possible! The next thing I'll be seeing is Sephiroth,' she thought. She forced herself to walk the last few feet to the inn, calming her breathing. She went inside, pushing the door open slowly. 

"Did you find him?" came Yuffie's voice. Tifa shook her head. "Oh well. Come and eat something." 

Tifa sat down automatically in a chair, feeling as if she was on autopilot. A tail brushed up against her leg. She looked down to see Red XIII. He sniffed the air curiously and looked at her. 

"Why do I smell fear, Tifa Lockhart?" he asked her. "And something else. A rose?"

She pulled the rose out of her pocket, realizing it was the same shade of pink that Aerith wore. "Something happened."

"What?" asked Yuffie, ever the nosy one. She glanced at the rose, and was suddenly lost in thought. "Tifa, where did you get the rose?" she wondered aloud. "Cloud had one just like it. I was asking him if he was thinking about Aerith because he had walked to the church, and he wouldn't answer me. I tried to tell him it wasn't his fault she died, and he got this weird look on his face when I said there was nothing we could do about it. He brought out a rose just like that one, and said, 'Is there.' It was weird." 

Tifa grew pale. Red XIII growled slightly. "The fear is back, Tifa. What happened?"

"I think I saw a ghost."

"There's no such things as ghosts!" chided Yuffie. 

"Is there?" came Vincent Valentine's voice, a warning note to it. "Are you always so certain, thief?" He turned his attention to Tifa. "Now tell me what happened."

Tifa told him. She showed him the rose, but he could find nothing strange about it. He sat down to think for a bit, and then spoke again. 

"I think we should pay a visit to the church." Yuffie choked on her yet another piece of toast. 

"But-- there's a ghost!"

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts?" asked Vincent, amused. She blushed.

"Well, uh, I just-- don't want to go there!" She quailed under Vincent's piercing gaze. "Alright! I'm scared of ghosts! Leave me alone!" Her face grew into a deeper crimson as the whole group laughed at her. 

"Perhaps we could wake Barret first?" she pleaded, anything to delay the dreaded trip to the church. 

"Alright," Tifa said, recovered from the shock of seeing Aerith. "Who wants to wake him?" And had her own laugh at the faces of the others. Not even Vincent wanted to wake Barret, who was the grumpiest person of them all in the morning. 

Cloud sat on the roof, glad to be alone with his thoughts. 'The NERVE of them! Couldn't they see I wanted to be left along? And then to talk about me as if I wasn't there... I suppose I overreacted...' He gazed out at the busy city, but didn't notice Tifa go by directly under him. 

"Aerith," he whispered, fingering the rose that he had again brought out of his pocket. "Why can't I stop loving you? Why can't I decide who to love?"

But no answer came to his question, save for the breeze that ruffled his hair and clothes.   
  
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So? What did you think? Gomenasai for all the dialogue, but I needed to get it in there somewhere. Review please, or email!   
  
Lysaandi 


	3. The Man In Black

Yes, I know. Long time, no chapter. I've been busy, playing my Final Fantasy games, and I had a tremendous writer's block and couldn't think of anything. But, here it is, and I will try to do better, I promise!

' ' denotes thoughts

===============================  
  
**To Catch A Dream  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
The Man In Black  
  
**  
"Are you sure we should have left him behind?" Yuffie asked in a slightly pleading voice. "He might get mad at us..."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, but didn't stop walking. "You know perfectly well you're just stalling. If you really are that scared, stay behind and tell Barrett where we went."

Yuffie mumbled something to herself that he didn't quite catch, but she kept walking. Vincent smiled inwardly. 'So predictable....'

"It hasn't changed. I was surprised," Tifa said quietly. "Let's go in."

She slowly pushed the door open, tensing slightly, as if ready to jumo out of the way. There was nothing. The church was completely and utterly empty save for the footprints in the dust. Tifa looked puzzled.

"Nothing. Well, I guess with ghosts you can't exactly dictate their movements, can you?" She laughed weakly, but it died down quickly in the silence.

Vincent turned his head slightly, as if listening to something. "Someone is here," he whispered.

"It's too late to hide our presence now," Yuffie said in a matter-of-fact way. "Hey, come out, come out wherever you are!"

Nothing moved, but a faint sounds was heard. A soft laughter was coming from above, a laughter that sounded cold and sent shivers up the party's spine. They looked up, but didn't see anything.

"Can-- can you come down?" Yuffie asked, a tremble in her voice. The laughter sounded again.

"Come on, this isn't funny! Who's up there?" demanded Tifa.

"Your worst nightmare... I know who you are..." The voice was soft, but cold and hard, with a strange echoing quality to it. It also sounded familiar...

"'My worst nightmare'? Isn't that a bit of a cliche by now?"

"That is what I am. You are insolent, Tifa Lockhart. Perhaps too much so for your own good." Laughter again. "Perhaps I should remedy that situation?"

There was a sound of metal scraping something, like a sword being unsheathed. Mist began to form in front of the party of three, who all stepped back. The laughter sounded again overhead, and from the shadows in the eaves above a figure stood up. It was then they saw his face.

"Oh no..."  
  
Red didn't quite like getting left behind, but he knew someone had to tell Barrett where the others went, and he certainly wasn't going to wake him. He wished he knew where Cloud was, because he was feeling a bit lonely and wanted to talk, but then amended that thought and wished for Cid. Cloud didn't talk much, so even if he had wanted to talk to him, his chattering would go unanswered into the silence. He wondered when Cid was going to come back, and what he was up to in the mean time.

He heard creaks in the floor above him, then a loud _thump!_, followed by a long string off swearing and more bumps and noises. Barrett came rolling down the stairs, having tripped at the top, still yelling a whole asortment of cusswords that probably could have been heard across town.

Red tried to keep the laughter out of his voice, as he asked innocently, "What happened?"

"I fell down the bloody stairs, that's what &#% happened!" Rubbing a bruise he sat down on a chair near Red, still muttering curses.

"Want me to find some ice?"

"Yeah... damn this is going to hurt for the next few days..."

Red, feeling very mischievious that day, whispered softly, "Blizzard," and pointed a claw at Barrett's leg. The scream that followed was very satisfying. Just then, Cloud came running in, with his sword, looking around to see who was attacking who.

The scene that his eye fell upon was this: A hysterical Red XIII running around the room, laughing so hard he could hardly get a breath, and a furious Barrett, who still hadn't quite managed to get all the ice off his leg, chasing him. He paused a moment to try to use a fire spell to melt it, but proceeded to get his pant leg on fire. Barrett then began running around the room trying to put it out.

Cloud smiled, and calmly picked up the mug of beer that someone had left on the table near by, and doused Barrett in the contents. A hissing sound ensued as the fire went out, and the only sounds then were the drips of the beer falling off of him, Barrett's heavy breathing, and Red's laughter.

"I see you've been busy this morning," Cloud said in a perfectly calm voice, although he was laughing on the inside. The glare Barrett gave him nearly threatened to make the laughter burst out.

When Barrett calmed down, he glanced around and frowned. "Where is everyone?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't know. I sort of-- blew up at Tifa and Yuffie earlier; that's the last I saw them."

"Well... I know, but..."

"But?" Cloud prompted.

"You probably shouldn't know." Red looked away from Cloud's piercing gaze, then sighed. "Fine. They went-- well, they went to the church. I think you know what I'm talking about, Cloud."

Cloud's face was completely expressionless, but he sheathed his sword and turned towards the door. Barrett shrugged at Red, the ice incedent forgotten, and the both followed.  
  
'How could they go there?' Cloud asked himself bitterly. 'Why would they go there? It's my spot... Mine... And.... Aerith's... Was she really there this morning? Did I really see her? Was it a dream?' He felt in his pocket, and felt the rose and Materia. 'It couldn't have been... but she's dead. Can it be that somehow... she's alive?'

His thoughts occupied him until he reached the church. The door was open, and he could just see Vincent's back. He heard voices, but not clearly.

"Oh, no..." he heard Tifa say in a gasp.

He rushed forward, and saw someone he thought he never wanted to see again.

The man in black smiled a cruel smile, hatred in his eyes, and held up his sword.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud cried.

And Sephiroth pulled back the Masamune, and swung towards Tifa.  
  
I've decided to reply to my reviewers like a fanfiction author I like does. Her name is Jedi Blu, Lady At Large, in case any of you are interested. She has written a really good story for those who like Severus Snape.  
  
**Pescado-** Thanks, I'm glad you liked my story. Sorry it took so long to update, but here it is!

**shortygirl-** Here's the next chapter for you! It's nice to know you like it.

**Amy-** You don't have to wait any longer. Here's the chapter! Next one coming soon!

**SleepingStarz-** It only would have been R for language and perhaps some violence and stuff, but if you're that upset about it, I'll try to keep it down. Wow. I didn't know if I had gotten them right, but thanks.

If there are any characters/things you really feel need to show up in this story, please tell me, and I'll see if I can fit it in. You know, say, Lucrecia or something. All comments are appreciated, and, although I really like it, please don't give me praise all the time. I like to know if there's something, even little, I need to change. Thanks!  
  
Lysaandi 


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